


One Step Back Two Steps Forward

by Small_Hobbit



Category: Spooks | MI-5
Genre: Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 19:55:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11790336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/pseuds/Small_Hobbit
Summary: Ros Myers had only gone out for a lunch-time sandwich.





	One Step Back Two Steps Forward

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LJ's What If community - time travel AU

As Ros Myers walked down the side street the sky grew darker and darker.  She began to regret not bringing an umbrella with her; the weather was very unpredictable at the moment and she had no wished to be soaked whilst out buying a sandwich. 

Suddenly everywhere went completely black and there was a loud clap which sounded like thunder.  Then equally suddenly everything cleared again, the sun was shining, and it was as if nothing at all had happened.

Ros turned the corner in the main street and stopped in her tracks.  The street, though familiar in most ways, didn’t look quite right.  The people hurrying down the pavement looked just slightly out of kilter.  No-one stared at her, and yet she felt out of place.

Cautiously she continued walking along the street towards the sandwich shop.  She could not see the usual lunchtime queue stretching out from the shop door, and as she approached the shop she realised this was because it was no longer a sandwich shop.  Instead it was selling photographic equipment.  Curiously she looked at the prices of the items in the shop window.  Everything seemed strangely cheap, and yet there was no ‘Sale’ sign on show.

Something niggled at the back of her mind.  She looked up and down the street and then she remembered – before the sandwich shop opened there had been a camera shop in its place.  Feeling confused she picked up a discarded paper and looked at the headlines.  There was nothing which rang any bells for her, so, feeling rather silly, she glanced at the date.  The day and the month were correct, but it was nine years earlier.

That didn’t make any sense at all.  And yet looking again at the people passing by it did.  It explained the different styles and colours which had seemed out of kilter before.  She still blended in, for she was wearing neutral office clothes designed not to call attention to herself, and they succeeded perfectly, even if she had, for some unknown reason, gone back nine years.

She took her phone out of her jacket pocket and checked the date.  Whatever had happened, her phone still said the same year as when she’d got up that morning, which was somewhat reassuring.

She was still not convinced of what had happened, and so continued to look around.  The vehicle number plates bore out her thoughts – or at least there were none newer than nine years old.  She thought the street looked as it had done nine years ago.  She couldn’t be certain of this, she hadn’t walked down it nearly as often as she did now, but there was nothing which stood out as being wrong for that time.

As she was looking across the road she noticed a Ravel shoe shop.  She smiled, remembering buying boots in there in her early twenties.  The chain was now closed and she hadn’t thought about them for years.  The opportunity to relive a little of her past seemed too good to resist, so she crossed the road, curious whether  they would still be selling something similar to what she had bought.

As she did so she saw two people talking together.  One she recognised immediately, for she still worked with her.  She looked younger, but Ros had no doubt it was Connie.  Ros wasn’t instantly sure who the second person was, but then she remembered seeing photos of him.  And she knew for sure Connie should never have been meeting this man.

Not wishing to be recognised, Ros turned towards the shoes in the shop window.  She was no longer interested in what they were selling, but there was sufficient reflection of the couple in the glass she was able to wait until they moved off.

As soon as it was safe to do so, Ros turned and began to hurry back to the Grid.  If it was indeed nine years earlier she would have time to get to Lucas and warn him of what he would find when he arrived in Russia. 

She retraced her footsteps, as being the quickest way back.  As she approached the side street the sky grew darker again and by the time she reached the corner it was pitch black.  Once more there was a loud clap of thunder and then clear blue skies.

Ros hurried on, feeling unsettled.  Passing a newspaper stand she grabbed a copy of the _Evening Standard_.  The headline was different from the paper she’d looked at earlier, and she uneasily looked at the date.  The year had reverted to what it had been when she’d left the Grid.

She wouldn’t be able to prevent Lucas being incarcerated in Russia after all.  But now she knew what had happened she was going to ensure he finally got the justice he deserved.

 

 


End file.
